Articles | Volume 10, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1581-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1581-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Sep 2019
Research article |
| 20 Sep 2019
| 20 Sep 2019
Miocene basement exhumation in the Central Alps recorded by detrital garnet geochemistry in foreland basin deposits
Laura Stutenbecker
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Applied Geosciences, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstr. 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
Peter M. E. Tollan
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Andrea Madella
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstr. 56, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
Pierre Lanari
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Related authors
Michael A. Schwenk, Laura Stutenbecker, Patrick Schläfli, Dimitri Bandou, and Fritz Schlunegger
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 163–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, 2022
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We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of transport either with the Aare Glacier or the Valais Glacier. These two ice streams are known to have joined in the Bern area during the last major glaciation (ca. 20 000 years ago). However, little is known about the ice streams prior to this last glaciation. Here we collected evidence that during a glaciation about 250 000 years ago the Aare Glacier dominated the area as documented in the deposits.
Maryam Mansouri, Laura Stutenbecker, Matthias Hinderer, Anna Lewin, and Enkurie L. Dawit
Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2022-35, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2022-35, 2022
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The Permian-Triassic is well known for the most extensive mass extinction in the history of life caused by climatic, tectonic, and ecological disruptions. Due to the lack of studies on continental deposits in eastern Africa, we aim to use this continental archive to study the response of earth surface processes linked to perturbations around the PTB. Our results show a successive erosional process in East Africa due to extensional movements accompanied by recycling and then by basement erosion.
Anna Costa, Peter Molnar, Laura Stutenbecker, Maarten Bakker, Tiago A. Silva, Fritz Schlunegger, Stuart N. Lane, Jean-Luc Loizeau, and Stéphanie Girardclos
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 509–528, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-509-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-509-2018, 2018
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We explore the signal of a warmer climate in the suspended-sediment dynamics of a regulated and human-impacted Alpine catchment. We demonstrate that temperature-driven enhanced melting of glaciers, which occurred in the mid-1980s, played a dominant role in suspended sediment concentration rise, through increased runoff from sediment-rich proglacial areas, increased contribution of sediment-rich meltwater, and increased sediment supply in proglacial areas due to glacier recession.
Laura Stutenbecker, Anna Costa, and Fritz Schlunegger
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 253–272, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-253-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-253-2016, 2016
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This paper considers the influence of lithology on the landscape development in the Central Swiss Alps. In high-alpine settings such as the upper Rhône valley, external forcing by climate, glaciation and uplift affects the geomorphological evolution of the landscape. By careful compilation of published data and geomorphological analysis we found that the rock type and its susceptibility to erosion are the main factors controlling the response time to those perturbations.
Kilian Lecacheur, Olivier Fabbri, Francesca Piccoli, Pierre Lanari, Philippe Goncalves, and Henri Leclère
Eur. J. Mineral., 36, 767–795, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-767-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-767-2024, 2024
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In this study, we analyze a peculiar eclogite from the Western Alps, which not only recorded a classical subduction-to-exhumation path but revealed evidence of Ca-rich fluid–rock interaction. Chemical composition and modeling show that the rock experienced peak metamorphic conditions followed by Ca-rich pulsed fluid influx occurring consistently under high-pressure conditions. This research enhances our understanding of fluid–rock interactions in subduction settings.
Hugo Dominguez, Nicolas Riel, and Pierre Lanari
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 6105–6122, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-6105-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-6105-2024, 2024
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Predicting the behaviour of magmatic systems is important for understanding Earth's matter and heat transport. Numerical modelling is a technique that can predict complex systems at different scales of space and time by solving equations using various techniques. This study tests four algorithms to find the best way to transport the melt composition. The "weighted essentially non-oscillatory" algorithm emerges as the best choice, minimising errors and preserving system mass well.
Julien Reynes, Jörg Hermann, Pierre Lanari, and Thomas Bovay
Eur. J. Mineral., 35, 679–701, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-35-679-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-35-679-2023, 2023
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Garnet is a high-pressure mineral that may incorporate very small amounts of water in its structure (tens to hundreds of micrograms per gram H2O). In this study, we show, based on analysis and modelling, that it can transport up to several hundred micrograms per gram of H2O at depths over 80 km in a subduction zone. The analysis of garnet from the various rock types present in a subducted slab allowed us to estimate the contribution of garnet in the deep cycling of water in the earth.
Veronica Peverelli, Alfons Berger, Martin Wille, Thomas Pettke, Pierre Lanari, Igor Maria Villa, and Marco Herwegh
Solid Earth, 13, 1803–1821, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1803-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1803-2022, 2022
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This work studies the interplay of epidote dissolution–precipitation and quartz dynamic recrystallization during viscous granular flow in a deforming epidote–quartz vein. Pb and Sr isotope data indicate that epidote dissolution–precipitation is mediated by internal/recycled fluids with an additional external fluid component. Microstructures and geochemical data show that the epidote material is redistributed and chemically homogenized within the deforming vein via a dynamic granular fluid pump.
Michael A. Schwenk, Laura Stutenbecker, Patrick Schläfli, Dimitri Bandou, and Fritz Schlunegger
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 163–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, 2022
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We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of transport either with the Aare Glacier or the Valais Glacier. These two ice streams are known to have joined in the Bern area during the last major glaciation (ca. 20 000 years ago). However, little is known about the ice streams prior to this last glaciation. Here we collected evidence that during a glaciation about 250 000 years ago the Aare Glacier dominated the area as documented in the deposits.
Maryam Mansouri, Laura Stutenbecker, Matthias Hinderer, Anna Lewin, and Enkurie L. Dawit
Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2022-35, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2022-35, 2022
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The Permian-Triassic is well known for the most extensive mass extinction in the history of life caused by climatic, tectonic, and ecological disruptions. Due to the lack of studies on continental deposits in eastern Africa, we aim to use this continental archive to study the response of earth surface processes linked to perturbations around the PTB. Our results show a successive erosional process in East Africa due to extensional movements accompanied by recycling and then by basement erosion.
Andrea Madella, Christoph Glotzbach, and Todd A. Ehlers
Geochronology, 4, 177–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-177-2022, 2022
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Cooling ages date the time at which minerals cross a certain isotherm on the way up to Earth's surface. Such ages can be measured from bedrock material and river sand. If spatial variations in bedrock ages are known in a river catchment, the spatial distribution of erosion can be inferred from the distribution of the ages measured from the river sand grains. Here we develop a new tool to help such analyses, with particular emphasis on quantifying uncertainties due to sample size.
Veronica Peverelli, Tanya Ewing, Daniela Rubatto, Martin Wille, Alfons Berger, Igor Maria Villa, Pierre Lanari, Thomas Pettke, and Marco Herwegh
Geochronology, 3, 123–147, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-123-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-123-2021, 2021
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This work presents LA-ICP-MS U–Pb geochronology of epidote in hydrothermal veins. The challenges of epidote dating are addressed, and a protocol is proposed allowing us to obtain epidote U–Pb ages with a precision as good as 5 % in addition to the initial Pb isotopic composition of the epidote-forming fluid. Epidote demonstrates its potential to be used as a U–Pb geochronometer and as a fluid tracer, allowing us to reconstruct the timing of hydrothermal activity and the origin of the fluid(s).
Felix Hentschel, Emilie Janots, Claudia A. Trepmann, Valerie Magnin, and Pierre Lanari
Eur. J. Mineral., 32, 521–544, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-32-521-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-32-521-2020, 2020
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We analysed apatite–allanite/epidote coronae around monazite and xenotime in deformed Permian pegmatites from the Austroalpine basement. Microscopy, chemical analysis and EBSD showed that these coronae formed by dissolution–precipitation processes during deformation of the host rocks. Dating of monazite and xenotime confirmed the magmatic origin of the corona cores, while LA-ICP-MS dating of allanite established a date of ~ 60 Ma for corona formation and deformation in the Austroalpine basement.
Alice Vho, Pierre Lanari, Daniela Rubatto, and Jörg Hermann
Solid Earth, 11, 307–328, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-307-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-307-2020, 2020
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This study presents an approach that combines equilibrium thermodynamic modelling with oxygen isotope fractionation modelling for investigating fluid–rock interaction in metamorphic systems. An application to subduction zones shows that chemical and isotopic zoning in minerals can be used to determine feasible fluid sources and the conditions of interaction. Slab-derived fluids can cause oxygen isotope variations in the mantle wedge that may result in anomalous isotopic signatures of arc lavas.
Francesco Giuntoli, Pierre Lanari, and Martin Engi
Solid Earth, 9, 167–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-167-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-167-2018, 2018
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Continental high-pressure terranes in orogens offer insight into deep recycling and transformation processes that occur in subduction zones. These remain poorly understood, and currently debated ideas need testing. We document complex garnet zoning in eclogitic mica schists from the Sesia Zone (western Italian Alps). These retain evidence of two orogenic cycles and provide detailed insight into resorption, growth, and diffusion processes induced by fluid pulses under high-pressure conditions.
Francesco Giuntoli, Pierre Lanari, Marco Burn, Barbara Eva Kunz, and Martin Engi
Solid Earth, 9, 191–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-191-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-191-2018, 2018
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Subducted continental terranes commonly comprise an assembly of subunits that reflect the different tectono-metamorphic histories they experienced in the subduction zone. Our challenge is to unravel how, when, and in which part of the subduction zone these subunits were juxtaposed. Our study documents when and in what conditions re-equilibration took place. Results constrain the main stages of mineral growth and deformation, associated with fluid influx that occurred in the subduction channel.
Anna Costa, Peter Molnar, Laura Stutenbecker, Maarten Bakker, Tiago A. Silva, Fritz Schlunegger, Stuart N. Lane, Jean-Luc Loizeau, and Stéphanie Girardclos
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 509–528, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-509-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-509-2018, 2018
Short summary
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We explore the signal of a warmer climate in the suspended-sediment dynamics of a regulated and human-impacted Alpine catchment. We demonstrate that temperature-driven enhanced melting of glaciers, which occurred in the mid-1980s, played a dominant role in suspended sediment concentration rise, through increased runoff from sediment-rich proglacial areas, increased contribution of sediment-rich meltwater, and increased sediment supply in proglacial areas due to glacier recession.
Laura Stutenbecker, Anna Costa, and Fritz Schlunegger
Earth Surf. Dynam., 4, 253–272, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-253-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-253-2016, 2016
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This paper considers the influence of lithology on the landscape development in the Central Swiss Alps. In high-alpine settings such as the upper Rhône valley, external forcing by climate, glaciation and uplift affects the geomorphological evolution of the landscape. By careful compilation of published data and geomorphological analysis we found that the rock type and its susceptibility to erosion are the main factors controlling the response time to those perturbations.
Related subject area
Subject area: The evolving Earth surface | Editorial team: Stratigraphy, sedimentology, geomorphology, morphotectonics, and palaeontology | Discipline: Sedimentology
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Zbyszek Remin, Michał Cyglicki, and Mariusz Niechwedowicz
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Emilija Krsnik, Katharina Methner, Marion Campani, Svetlana Botsyun, Sebastian G. Mutz, Todd A. Ehlers, Oliver Kempf, Jens Fiebig, Fritz Schlunegger, and Andreas Mulch
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Jean-Philippe Blouet, Patrice Imbert, Sutieng Ho, Andreas Wetzel, and Anneleen Foubert
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Biochemical reactions related to hydrocarbon seepage are known to induce carbonates in marine sediments. Seep carbonates may act as seals and force lateral deviations of rising hydrocarbons. However, crustacean burrows may act as efficient vertical fluid channels allowing hydrocarbons to pass through upward, thereby allowing the vertical growth of carbonate stacks over time. This mechanism may explain the origin of carbonate columns in marine sediments throughout hydrocarbon provinces worldwide.
Thomas Voigt, Jonas Kley, and Silke Voigt
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Arne Jacob, Markus Peltz, Sina Hale, Frieder Enzmann, Olga Moravcova, Laurence N. Warr, Georg Grathoff, Philipp Blum, and Michael Kersten
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Lydia R. Bailey, Filippo L. Schenker, Maria Giuditta Fellin, Miriam Cobianchi, Thierry Adatte, and Vincenzo Picotti
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The Kallipetra Basin, formed in the Late Cretaceous on the reworked Pelagonian–Axios–Vardar contact in the Hellenides, is described for the first time. We document how and when the basin evolved in response to tectonic forcings and basin inversion. Cenomanian extension and basin widening was followed by Turonian compression and basin inversion. Thrusting occurred earlier than previously reported in the literature, with a vergence to the NE, at odds with the regional SW vergence of the margin.
Georg Schwamborn, Kai Hartmann, Bernd Wünnemann, Wolfgang Rösler, Annette Wefer-Roehl, Jörg Pross, Marlen Schlöffel, Franziska Kobe, Pavel E. Tarasov, Melissa A. Berke, and Bernhard Diekmann
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We use a sediment core from the Gobi Desert (Ejina Basin, NW China) to illustrate the landscape history of the area. During 2.5 million years a sediment package of 223 m thickness has been accumulated. Various sediment types document that the area turned from a playa environment (shallow water environment with multiple flooding events) to an alluvial–fluvial environment after the arrival of the Heihe in the area. The river has been diverted due to tectonics.
Philippos Garefalakis and Fritz Schlunegger
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Christian Stranne, Matt O'Regan, Martin Jakobsson, Volker Brüchert, and Marcelo Ketzer
Solid Earth, 10, 1541–1554, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1541-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1541-2019, 2019
Maximilian Rieder, Wencke Wegner, Monika Horschinegg, Stefanie Klackl, Nereo Preto, Anna Breda, Susanne Gier, Urs Klötzli, Stefano M. Bernasconi, Gernot Arp, and Patrick Meister
Solid Earth, 10, 1243–1267, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1243-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1243-2019, 2019
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The formation of dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), an abundant mineral in Earth's geological record, is still incompletely understood. We studied dolomites embedded in a 100 m thick succession of coastal alluvial clays of Triassic age in the southern Alps. Observation by light microscopy and Sr isotopes suggests that dolomites may spontaneously from concentrated evaporating seawater, in coastal ephemeral lakes or tidal flats along the western margin of the Triassic Tethys sea.
Salomé Mignard, Thierry Mulder, Philippe Martinez, and Thierry Garlan
Solid Earth, 10, 851–869, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-851-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-851-2019, 2019
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A large quantity a continental material is transported to the oceans by the world rivers. Once in the ocean, these particles can be transported down the continental shelf thanks to underwater avalanches. The repetition of such massive events can form very important sedimentary deposits at the continent–ocean transition. Data obtained during an oceanic cruise in 2010 allowed us to study such a system located offshore of Gabon and to evaluate the importance sediment transport in this area.
Sutieng Ho, Martin Hovland, Jean-Philippe Blouet, Andreas Wetzel, Patrice Imbert, and Daniel Carruthers
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A newly discovered type of hydrocarbon leakage structure is investigated following the preliminary works of Ho (2013; et al. 2012, 2013, 2016): blade-shaped gas chimneys instead of classical cylindrical ones. These so-called
Linear Chimneysare hydraulic fractures caused by overpressured hydrocarbon fluids breaching cover sediments along preferential directions. These directions are dictated by anisotropic stresses induced by faulting in sediments and pre-existing salt-diapiric structures.
Leandra M. Weydt, Claus-Dieter J. Heldmann, Hans G. Machel, and Ingo Sass
Solid Earth, 9, 953–983, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-953-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-953-2018, 2018
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This study focuses on the assessment of the geothermal potential of two extensive upper Devonian aquifer systems within the Alberta Basin (Canada). Our work provides a first database on geothermal rock properties combined with detailed facies analysis (outcrop and core samples), enabling the identification of preferred zones in the reservoir and thus allowing for a more reliable reservoir prediction. This approach forms the basis for upcoming reservoir studies with a focus on 3-D modelling.
Ernest Chi Fru, Stephanos Kilias, Magnus Ivarsson, Jayne E. Rattray, Katerina Gkika, Iain McDonald, Qian He, and Curt Broman
Solid Earth, 9, 573–598, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-573-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-573-2018, 2018
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Banded iron formations (BIFs) are chemical sediments last seen in the marine sedimentary record ca. 600 million years ago. Here, we report on the formation mechanisms of a modern BIF analog in the Cape Vani sedimentary basin (CVSB) on Milos Island, Greece, demonstrating that rare environmental redox conditions, coupled to submarine hydrothermal activity and microbial processes, are required for these types of rocks to form in the modern marine biosphere.
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Short summary
The Aar and Mont Blanc regions in the Alps are large granitoid massifs characterized by high topography. We analyse when these granitoids were first exhumed to the surface. We test this by tracking specific garnet grains, which are exclusively found in the granitoid massifs, in the sediments contained in the alpine foreland basin. This research ties in with ongoing debates on the timing and mechanisms of mountain building.
The Aar and Mont Blanc regions in the Alps are large granitoid massifs characterized by high...
